By Boxing Bob Newman
Former multi-division world champ and Hall of famer Roy Jones, Jr. put on a five bout card at the Yakima Legends Casino in Toppenish, WA on Friday night. In addition to playing promoter and doing color commentary, Jones, Jr. also performed several of his rap hits.
In the main event, lady middleweights Maricela “La Diva” Cornejo, Grandview WA, and Natasha “The Nightmare” Spence, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, went at it hard for the WBA International title. Both ladies took their turns landing hard shots, with each giving as good as they took. It was a tough fight to call, even promoter Roy Jones, Jr. couldn’t manage a guess as to who won. In the end Spence won by scores of 58-56, 59-55 and 60-54, moving. 9-8, 6 KOs. Cornejo falls to 19-8, 7 KOs. While not an excuse, it should be noted that the 38 year old Cornejo just gave birth a mere 4 months ago!
Opening the show were Jr. Middleweight novices, Alvin Welch of Spokane and Jovanis Rodriguez Pallares of Tacoma, each coming in with one fight under their belt. Both however have campaigned in the MMA cage as well. This bout was a fairly pedestrian outing as neither man was hurt and not many hard shots were landed. While Jones, Jr. saw the bout in favor of Pallares, one judge saw it 39-37 also in favor of Pallares, with the other two both tabbing it 38-38 for a majority draw. Welch remains winless at 0-1-1, while Pallares moves to 1-0-1, 1 KO.
Lightweight Chris “The Hybrid” Young, of Pensacola, FL, and trained by the legend Roy Jones, Jr., absolutely blitzed Derick Funkhouser, of Medford, Oregon in the first round. A crushing three-punch combination dropped Funkhouser hard some 40 seconds into the bout. A follow-up three-punch combination saw him stiffen and sag into the ropes, referee Joel Scobie saving Funkhouser from further punishment. The time was 1:01 of the opening stanza. Young now moves to 4-0, 3KOs. Funkhouser starts out at 0-2. Of his charge, Jones Jr. said the nickname “Hybrid” comes from the fact that Young’s style is a cross between that of Jones himself and Mike Tyson.
Heavyweight Joshua Juarez, Laredo, Texas made even shorter work of Jalisco, Mexico’s Oscar Cortes. After one trip to the canvas, which was ruled a slip by referee Joel Scobie, Cortes decided that the left hook that legitimately put him down shortly thereafter, was something he didn’t want to face anymore, so he took the count as the referee waved it off. Time was :56 of the opening frame. Juarez moves to 13-0, 8KOs. Cortes goes to 27-9, 14 KOs
In a super middleweight co-feature, Yakima’s Andrew “White Lightning” Murphy plowed through Medford, Oregon’s Jeremiah Sierra with two knockdowns right out of the gate. After rising from the second knockdown on unsteady legs, referee Scobie ruled Sierra unfit to continue, waving matters off at 2:29 of the first. Murphy moves to 13-0, 8 KOs. Sierra falls to 4-3, 1 KO. After the bout, former Murphy foe and inter-state rival, Davontae Mcdonald, stepped up into the ring with a contract in hand, clamoring for a rematch with Murphy. In January of 2024 the two went at it in a hard fought eight rounder, which saw Murphy come away with a close unanimous decision.
For his part, Murphy’s promoter and trainer, Roy Jones, Jr. said this, “Andrew, don’t really need the fight, but if the money is right, we don’t duck and dodge nothing! You heard me? So if they want it, tell Legends (Casino) to put the money up!”
